Summit challenges dairy thinking Matt Reid: Dairyfarmers need to drop victim mentality. Dairyfarmers were encouraged to change their thinking at the inaugural National Dairy Farmers’ Summit in Melbourne yesterday. The summit, run by Australian Dairy Farmers, identified three key priorities for the industry to pursue. The first was to develop an industry strategy for innovation, investment and growth, the second to identify pathways to success to encourage investment and confidence in the industry and the third for government to continue with trade reform that benefits dairy. The priorities were selected from a list of 18 developed in six workshop sessions by farmers and industry organisation representatives. The workshops followed addresses by a futurist, a dairyfarmer, a minister and a cropping group chair that encouraged those present to change their thinking. Futurist Dr Robert Burke said futures thinking was about challenging people’s view of the world. He said developing strategy was about the conversations people had – these provided aspirations (thing people could achieve) and inspirations (thing people would like to achieve). People needed to develop their “story” for what they wanted for the future, he said. Leadership was about taking the time to think. Leaders needed to slow down before they sped up – this allowed time to open up their minds and consider different views. Western Victorian dairyfarmer and member of the Horizon 2020 project working group Matt Reid told the summit dairyfarmers needed to change their perspective - they needed to focus on the things they could control and look for the possibilities, not the problems. Farmers had to accept that volatility was part of the environment in which they operated. Mr Reid said the Australian dairy industry had a poor business culture where farmers had little idea about the true costs in their business and where the industry did not celebrate successful businesses. Dairyfarmers had to drop the victim mentality – they needed to take responsibility for their own future and not expect a handout from government to fix problems. He set down the three key challenges he saw for the industry: 1. Creating succession pathways that allowed new entrants into the industry; 2. Getting better market access into key future markets of choice; and 3. Ensuring consumers trusted dairy. Birchip Cropping Group chair Caroline Welsh described the growth of BCG from a bus tour to another farming area by a group of farmers to an organisation employing 20, conducting its own research and providing a raft of services to its members. She challenged the audience to think about what they wanted to be, to dare to be different, to not underestimate the importance of communication in creating change and to keep adapting to new challenges. 18 dairy industry priorities The key industry priorities identified by the six workshops: Social licence/public trust *Continue to roll out positively managed messages and images. *Demonstrate evidence of our progress that is independently endorsed and observable. *Develop strategic partnerships for influence. Human capacity *Focus on human resources and business skills for farmers. *Promote success to attract and retain people on farms and within the industry across the skills spectrum. *Ensure immigration laws and pastoral award are better matched to industry needs. Competitive value chain *Dairy Australia should investigate more competitive structures across supply chain to drive industry efficiency. *Australian Dairy Farmers needs to increase farmer influence and understanding around supply and pricing signals. *Australian Dairy Industry Council should pressure government to enable agricultural prosperity. Farm Business Fitness *Build one-on-one relationships and information, focusing on face-to-face contact through Regional Development Programs, mentoring, milk companies etc for a business fit farming industry. *Dairy Australia to develop tools and approaches for benchmarking so farmers can assess their business compared to others and their own business year on year. *Tools and knowledge to support risk management decisions including through qualified advisers. Market Growth *Develop an industry strategy for innovation, investment and growth. *Government to continue with trade reform that benefits dairy. *Industry maintains and builds dairy industry reputation – consistency of supply, quality and food security. Cohesive Dairy Industry *Identify pathways to success to encourage investment and confidence in the industry. *Further develop industry communications through the Legendairy platform to improve the community’s perception of value. *Develop a comprehensive review of current industry structures to ensure we have the right model for the future.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 08:03:20 +0000
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